Watch the band's exclusive three-song Billboard Tastemakers performance of tunes from "The Carpenter," plus a Q&A.

The Avett Brothers say the two keys to making recent album "The Carpenter" were talking things out in addition to recording and the sheer number of shows they've played since 2009's acclaimed "I And Love And You." The band, who saw "The Carpenter" debut in the top five of the Billboard 200 this fall, took to the roof of Mophonics Studio in Manhattan to perform an acoustic trio of songs from the new record. Watch as they play "Live And Die," "February Seven" and "Down With The Shine" for the Billboard Tastemakers video series.

The hundreds of shows they've played since "I And Love And You" -- including performing alongside Bob Dylan and Mumford & Sons at the 2011 Grammys -- were crucial to the North Carolina folk/Americana/rock act's current sound. "Each of these shows feels almost like baptism. I never feel like the same person after than before," Scott Avett tells Billboard. "We try to embrace the fact that we're going to be very different people between one record and the next."

"There was a lot of time away from the studio listening and discussing," Seth Avett explains of the making of "The Carpenter," the band's seventh album.

The album, which the Avett's crafted with producer Rick Rubin's help in their North Carolina studio, also features guest appearances by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and keyboardist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.

After they "took longer to make this record," says Seth Avett, it's fitting that the 12-song standard version of "The Carpenter" is just the beginning. "The Carpenter Deluxe Box," which is available at Theavettbrothers.com, includes the album on CD or vinyl and a download, plus a "Carpenter" demo CD that features exclusive demo versions of six songs. The box also comes with a 2013 calendar and photos.

But far from relaxing after a very busy season on the road in 2012 both before "The Carpenter" was released and since, the group, which also includes bassist Bob Crawford, will ring in 2013 doing what they cherish so much: playing a show. The Avett Brothers headline the Greensboro Coliseum in the brothers' home state of North Carolina on Dec. 31.